Taking a few liberties with the immortal words of the late Pete Seeger, who died this week:

To everything – turn, turn, turnThere is a season – turn, turn, turnAnd a time for every purpose under heavenA time to become an All-Star, a time to fade away

When Tim Duncan played in his first NBA All-Star Game back in 1998, John Wall and Damian Lillard were 7 years old. DeMar DeRozan was eight. Paul Millsap was 13.

Now, as the Spurs veteran was left off the All-Star team for only the third time in his career, the quartet of newcomers will be making their All-Star debuts a in New Orleans. If it’s the end of the All-Star line for the 37-year-old Duncan, his 14 appearances will leave him in fifth place behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (19), Kobe Bryant (16), Shaquille O’Neal (15) and Kevin Garnett (15).

A time to gain, a time to loseA time to rend, a time to sew

Chris Bosh once again joined teammates LeBron James andDwyane Wade on the East team, making the defending NBA champion Heat the only team with three players on the All-Star rosters. A poll of the league’s head coaches added seven reserves, announced Thursday night on TNT, to each team.

Roy Hibbert of the league-leading Pacers joined teammate Paul George. DeRozan, Millsap and Wall were added along with Joe Johnson of the Nets and Joakim Noah of the Bulls.

In the Western Conference, the Clippers, Trail Blazers and Rockets had multiple All-Stars selected. WithBlake Griffin voted in as a starter by the fans, the coaches added the Clippers’Chris Paul for one tandem.Lillard joins Portland teammate LaMarcus Aldridge to make another. And Houston’s one-two punch of Dwight Howard and James Harden made it as reserves. Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavericks andTony Parker of the Spurs complete the West roster.

The 63rd NBA All-Star Game will be televised on TNT from New Orleans Arena on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014. The All-Star Game, also broadcast live on ESPN Radio, will reach fans in 215 countries and territories in more than 40 languages.

Eastern Conference

DeMar DeRozan (Ron Turenne/NBAE)

Chris Bosh, Heat — As the condition of Wade’s knees makes the “three-peat” chances seem wobbly, the unheralded and under-appreciated Bosh is recognized by the coaches for sacrificing individual glory for wins. | Highlights

DeMar DeRozan, Raptors — The 24-year-old has made steady progress over five pro seasons to transform himself from flamboyant dunker to all-around player and a real team leader as the Raptors become a legitimate playoff contender in the East. | Highlights

Roy Hibbert, Pacers — In a gimmick-less world without the plain silly frontcourt-backcourt voting, there’d be a place for a traditional low-post center in the starting lineup. Hibbert, the beast of the East and Pacers’ anchor, would be it. | Highlights

Joe Johnson, Nets — As teammate Kevin Garnett says, “Joe Jesus” might not be there when you call on him, but he’s there when you need him. The seven-time All-Star has hit big, big shots as part of the Nets’ turnaround since New Year’s Day. | Highlights

Paul Millsap, Hawks — After all those years toiling in the obscurity of Utah, Millsap has proven to be the best free-agent purchase of the summer of 2013 and has kept the surprising Hawks in the thick of the playoff race after the loss of Al Horford. | Highlights

John Wall, Wizards — His team is up and down, in and out, always seems ready to disappoint. But he’s been the best point guard in the Eastern Conference this season and the best reason to watch the Wizards play. | Highlights

The lowdown — Based on his play over the last month, it would seem thatKyle Lowry has reason to cry injustice the loudest in an Eastern Conference that has not exactly been a Milky Way of stars. The guess is the coaches looked at the makeup of the overall roster and decided that it was hard to justify the Raptors getting a second star when the league leading Pacers could manage only two themselves. Which brings up another snub — Lance Stephenson. The former hot-and-cold wing man has done a great deal to make himself a more consistent player on a nightly basis. It’s quite possible that in late May or early June his omission could look extra foolish if he makes the difference in taking down the Heat. You have to figure that a simple look at the standings, where the Pistons are playing just .400 ball, worked against Andre Drummond. And no, Anderson Varejao and Luol Deng of the hapless Cavs, once the fans voted Kyrie Irving in as a starter, you didn’t stand a chance, either.

Western Conference

LaMarcus Aldridge, Trail Blazers — Making a third straight All-Star team wasn’t enough. Now Aldridge has pushed himself into the MVP conversation with an even higher level of play and lifted the Blazers into contention for No. 1 seed in the West. | Highlights

James Harden, Rockets — His numbers are slightly down with the addition of Howard into the mix, but The Beard is still virtually unstoppable going to the basket and as good a late-game closer as there is in the game. | Highlights

Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers — How do you pack talent and confidence — cockiness? — so big into such a little package? The 2013 Rookie of the Year will play in his first All-Star Game. Don’t think for a moment he’ll be shy. | Highlights

Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks — After knee problems last season ended his 11-year run, the 35-year-old has returned to his old form and to make it an even dozen All-Star appearances. He looks like he could motor on like a vintage Mercedes forever. | Highlights

Chris Paul, Clippers — CP3 says he might be recovered from a separated shoulder in time to play in the All-Star Game and defend his MVP award from last year in Houston, then give his Clippers momentum down the stretch into the playoffs. | Highlights

The lowdown: The last time the All-Star Game was played in New Orleans in 2008, the Hornets had a pair of players in the West lineup with Paul and David West. Of course, that team was on its way to 56 wins and the No. 2 seed. Six years later, New Orleans’ Pelicans are struggling. That’s likely the main reason that hometown star Anthony Davis wasn’t rewarded by the coaches. In an era when centers don’t get much respect, that probably cost DeMarcus Cousins a spot, too. You could also make a good case for Warriors forward David Lee and the Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan. However, it says here that the biggest snub went to Goran Dragic, who has been the leader of the offense and the steadying force for the Suns, who are nothing less than the surprise of the league. But it’s tough to be a guard in the West. Just ask Mike Conley and Monta Ellis. And just think of how much tougher the backcourt competition would have been if Russell Westbrook were healthy.

All this voting proves, that majority of so called fans are morons. I mean picking Bryant. For what? What is so spectacular and all star worthy that he did this season or the season before? Answer: NOTHING AT ALL. He was only chosen as he has a huge number of dump followers, who know nothing about basketball. This is supposed to be an All Start weekend, where the top athletes compete. Not a weekend for the most popular. Seriously, NBA should do something about it. Either have the coaches choose players or if the fans do it, there should be a minimum number of games played or something. There were so many other guys who should have been picked. Timmy for starters, as he actually makes his team better by playing night in and night out. I wonder when or if the NBA TV crew will bring it up. Come on Chuck!

Stephenson as an all star what a joke! These bandwagoners and fanboys are idiotic. Stephenson is a wannabe who still makes boneheaded plays on a regular basis. There are way more deserving players out there than him. Stop being a bandwagon he aint a great player

The only reason why Bosh keeps making it to the list is because there are very few decent PFs in the East. Duncan, who schooled him in last year’s finals, didn’t make it. CB plays smaller than life, tries to make up for his lack of paint presence with jumpers that are half successful. Even Wade drives to the basket a lot more than he does.

For everyone making the argument that Lowry’s team is third in the East: remember that there are NINE teams in the west with better records than the Raptors. With that said, Lowry is still slightly more deserving than Joe Johnson.

Lance Stevenson should’ve been in instead of Joe Johnson. And what happened to picking a player from the team hosting the game? Anthoony Davis leads the league in blocks and I think he is one of five 20 – 10 guys this year. No love for the home fans.

Here’s a crazy idea.. With all the snubs how about creating a third team made up from both conferences. Then instead of having all the BS skill contests play the East vs West on either Friday Night or Saturday. I think Friday would work best. Then the winner of that game plays the combined conference All Stars. on Sunday night. Two all star games would be much better than slam dunks and skill games and would put meaning into each game.

Why do people think Kyle Lowry deserves to be an all-star? Yes he is playing good of late but its only been a month or month and a half of good ball.If he was playing this kind of ball at the beginning of the season up until now I would definitely call him an all-star. But as of know no. Joe johnson is questionable due to the fact of their season record. But JJ has been carrying the Nets while players have been injured

Just out of curiosity.. how many of you that talks about “not fair selections” and “stupid coaches who don’t know how to vote” voted for the injured Kobe as a starter, or Wade not-back-to-back – best scenario?

Imo lists are good, one of the snubs will get a spot at the end cause of Kobe’s injure, and there is a chance CP3 will not make it. And many of the snubs are getting good numbers on joke teams, so no worth the trouble. One Kyrie Irving joke is enough, and he is a starter, so next time you vote, think twice.. -.-

When are the spurs gonna get recognition? Tony Parker chosen as a reserve but don’t show his pic on the front page, instead it’s 2 blazers…NBA seriously has something against them. This has gone on for years.

Excluding Lowry from the All Star game is a CRIME!!!!!! This guy has been the best PG in the NBA all season long. If it was L.A., NY, Miami, Chicago, etc. they would have NO problem picking 2 players but because these guys play in Toronto they get 1 CHARITY pick for the All Star Game. It just shows how ignorant people are about Toronto and about Canada.

The All-Star Game should be like the NFL Pro Bowl. Unconferenced and with a draft to form teams. Lowry and Davis were terrible snubs and Dragic is even worse because he is from my beloved Phoenix Suns.

This is the second All Star snub in a second conference for Kyle Lowry. Two years ago he was the best PG in the West while playing for the Rockets and was left off in favor of an extremely lukewarm Steve Nash. When will it end?

The selections was OK! Im glad that Noah and Hibbert got in, the league should reward defense and hustle, but Johnson over Lowry is a joke, johnson numbers are average, and he should be embarrased just to show up for the allstar game, I dont know what the coaches where thinking, when you got a guy that is putting up better numbers and winning more games than johnson.

Man was really pulling for Mike Conley. So good this year. Also Lance is playing so good people just dont understand. Posting up triple doubles with Paul George Struggling. He is Legit. Also CP3, kobe, joe johnson, and i would make a case that kyrie irving didn’t deserve to make it. But thats my opinion.

Pete Seeger didn’t write those lines–they’re from the bible! Ecclesiastes, chapter three to be specific. Further evidence of why sportswriters should probably stay away from popular culture references…

Why are so many of you hyperventilating about Lowry??? 2 all stars from the Raptors seems a little to much don’t you think???

OKC has the best record in the NBA and has only ONE PLAYER in the all star game. Serge Ibaka is the biggest snub . He has been a beast all season long. The second best player of the best team right now. And we are talking about Lowry not getting there???? Really?

Been a Raps fan since they came in and am loving watching this team. It’s too bad about Lowry, I’m not sure if you in the States get to see much of the Raptors (unless we’re playing your team) but the little Man’s been a beast on both ends. Happy for DeRozan but really thought Lowry deserved it too…what’s so wrong with the Raps getting two in the game anyway? 3rd in the east could have justified it if their play didn’t. It’s really about popularity now and I think the fan vote has got to go-players need to get in based on performance and how they’re helping the team win (Kobe???? no way he should be there this season). Otherwise, let’s call it something else, like fan appreciation weekend or something.

I agree with most of the criticism mentioned above. I really wonder whether some of the ‘fans’ are really following the current season or whether they just want to have a popular player in. I don’t understand some of the picks by the coaches as well.

The All Star Game is determined etermined whether a player has so far had an all star season. Some of the players that were chosen clearly do not. The fact that players like Kobe and Wade have been terrific the last ten years or so, should not matter much in my opinion; their attribution so far, has not been ‘all star’. I don’t see how people could say otherwise. If they are injured, but happen to be great players, they just should be skipped for this game. Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook are not selected either, so this seems somewhat of a double standard. CP3 is injured as well, but has been consistently putting up all star numbers.

In general; I would like to see some more younger players selected, leave some of players that have been great in previous years , but not in this season out, and put in some young guys. They will surely be motivated even more by such a selection and perhaps improve even more. Guys like Lowry, Stephenson, Davis, and so on.

Joe Johnson probably has to cancel his weekend to the Bahama’s. It must have been a surprise for himself as well….

People say players should be awarded as Allstars by winning. Okay think about this, put Blake Griffin in the Kings team and put Demarcus Cousins in the Clippers. Blake Griffin would probably get worse statistics on the kings team because of the bad players around but Cousins would excel his numbers through the roof like he is now on a bad team. It just shows that Cousins is an Allstar in any situation.

Lowry is always left out. He was snubbed that lockout season when he was pouring triple doubles as a Rocket. A point guard grabbing rebounds, getting buckets, and making plays for others daily should get noticed… He’s better playing better than Kyrie.

the screw ups all started with the fans when they voted in Irving and Wade.
they should have voted (and for real I did) John Wall (best PG in East, on a playoff team) and Demar Derozen (best shooting guard in East scoring wise and maybe in other areas of the game too now that Wade is older…)
this would have freed up roster spots for Lowry and Stephenson.

but i agree Joe Johnson and Chris Bosh shouldn’t be on there. but, then again, both those guys are more deserving than Irving and Wade.

anyway, out West, calm down Phoenix fans, Dragic will be named a replacement player for the West by the commish. …and if i’m wrong, then everybody can come back here and cyber riot.

There are a lot of talented players in the league who are worthy of a slot in the roster, both for the east and west. However, the game also needs to attend to the marketing side of it. Will these players draw crowds or not? Maybe, just maybe, that’s one thing that the coaches looked into when they selected the reserves. Why not let the fans vote for the whole roster next year.

WTH… Definitely should be K.low and Stephenson in there. Anyone who has watched the Raps since the Rudy Gay trade knows that Lowry has put this team on his back and is playing hard and i think is the best point guard in the east, the man averages a charge per game and is always diving for loose balls, his stats are pretty decent too. Stephenson has the most triple doubles in the league and the Pacers should have 3 there giving them more than the Heat. They really screwed up this up, Joe, Kyrie, and John should be replaced!!

One irony I’d like to point out is Lowry was a way bigger odds-on favorite to make the all-star team than even DeMar (not saying he didn’t deserve to make it but still). Everyone in Toronto is well aware at this point who is the MVP of the current Raptors (hint: it’s Lowry), and yet it seems that the coaches of the NBA are oblivious.

Now I know NBA coaches are well-read in the game, and as “just” a fan maybe I shouldn’t question their choices, but this is ridiculous. They obviously put no real thought into their picks – they basically just picked the biggest names on all the teams with half decent to good records (not fully true, but true for the most part) and called it a day.

I guess we fans can’t complain since we get to vote in the starters at the very least, but even with my multiple voting I couldn’t get Aldridge, Harden or Wall into the starting five. I guess I’m just disappointed that the coaches didn’t clean up some of the fans’ poor voting choices completely. At least they got those 3 above mentioned in there.

Who probably shouldn’t have made the all-star team this year:

East reserves:
Joe Johnson – having a worse season statistically than last year, hitting game winners is nice and he’s still a good player, but his stats are poor and his team is sub .500. You either put Lowry or Stephenson here, though I’d lean to Lowry.
Chris Bosh – You could argue he deserves to be there when there aren’t too many good bigs in the east, add on the fact he’s on the second best team in the conference. Still, Al Jefferson is putting up better numbers than Bosh and while his team is well below .500, it’s still in the playoff picture. Bosh is putting up basically 16 and 6 while Al Jeff is around 18 and 10. If you want to argue that it should be based on games won, then I won’t argue putting in Bosh ahead of Al Jeff. If you want to argue that it should simply go to the better player, then it’s Al Jeff at this point.

West reserves:
West is too stacked in my opinion to really say any of those picks were ill-deserved. Still with how well Phoenix is doing SOMEONE needs to go from that team and clearly that someone is Dragic. Hopefully the NBA replaces the fans’ mistake with Kobe (who didn’t even want to be voted in), with Dragic and then we can say that the West all-stars look legit.
Somewhere you’d like to see Mike Conley, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis and even Ty Lawson in there (18 and 9 anyone?), but I won’t fault the choices of the coaches here.

Tired of people saying that Toronto is not allowed to have 2 All stars and shouldn’t give them credit. Why not? Miami has 3 and my Pacers have 2… Toronto is 3rd seed right now and they deserve 2. Kyle Lowry got snubbed hard, what a joke.

Why are so many of you hyperventilating about Lowry??? 2 all stars from the Raptors seems a little to much don’t you think???

OKC has the best record in the NBA and has only ONE PLAYER in the all star game. Serge Ibaka is the biggest snub . He has been a beast all season long. The second best player of the best team right now. And we are talking about Lowry not getting there???? Really?

Not voting in Lance Stephenson was a huge mistake by the coaches!! He’s the second best player on the best team and the main reason Indiana will win the Championship this season!! Voting in Joe Johnson or Chris Bosh over him is just plain ignorance. Huge let down for all his hard work.

Alert!
This is a reminder that this league is a business ! You dont sell tickets and jeresys you wont get love!

Kyle lower is the best performing pg in the east this year. Defense, offence, makes everyone on the team better, leadership, big shots, all heart, hardwork! The raps would be a lottery team if it wasnt for him.

Very surprised to see Joe Johnson in the East!! I think, same for same, Lance Stephenson was a better choice! -In the West it is surprising to not see DeMarcus Cousins & Anthony Davis snubbed!! For me they’d be in before Damian Lillard & maybe Dirk Nowitzki. Although Anthony Davis may still get the call by the new commish! (As the rumour is Kobe may not show).

The fundamental deserves better than dirk..
Most fans around the world don’t know how to rate a player of how they play..
They vote on who’s the most popular..
They should look at the stats and how they lead there team..

good point sir, can you please show us the stats you were referring to and when you say leading the team you mean leading the team to a win right? now for the Spurs team would that Parker or Duncan? cause when it comes to the Mavs team its Dirk…

The all star is a joke if u ask me, are u telling me that there is no DMC, Dragic, Lowry, Pekovic and Davis
they deserve it the way they played this season.
Players must be rewarded based on their playing and stats not on their popularity!!!
How can u take the all star seriously after these picks…….

The Mavs are only half a game up on Grizzlies for the 8th seed in the West. So to me, Dirk’s 21.6 and 6.2 aren’t anymore impressive than Tim Duncan’s 15-10-3-2 line where he is anchoring a defense pretty much by himself since Leonard, Green and Splitter went down.

I’m also banking on Goran Dragic landing Kobe’s spot, dude deserves it. Serious credit to Lowry and Stephenson too, they deserved to be out there playing.

I have a lot of appreciation for Noah, but can you even compare his numbers to Lowry? Yes he is a leader. But Lowry is the raptors leader, with better numbers and better standings, this one should have been a no brainer for the coaches.
Best PG in the East gets you nowhere if you are in a raptors uniform. NBA please realize.

Anthony Davis is the biggest snub. He is putting up numbers only Olajuwon and David Robinson ever put up in just his second yr. that shld be enough said right the. Nowitzki making it over him is a joke

Did anyone else notice the mistake in the caption below Dirk’s picture? Dik Nowitzki. Haha whoops…. Anyway, I agree with Steagl3. All it is is a popularity contest. Nothing based upon talent just who’s popular at what point. It should be based 100% upon each individual players overall talent through that point in the season. Forget the records of the teams and who’s popular and isn’t. If somebody is averaging 23.7ppg, 5.3rpg, 4.4apg, 2.1bpg and 1.1spg and they are a true top five in their conference, then they should be a starter, whether or not they are popular or how their team is doing. That is a all-star. And that is the way it should be, plain and simple. Fans and people of the league need to trash their biased mindsets and who they like better, and actually study which player is the best at their position at that time. So if LeBron is doing 13th best in the eastern conference, then he loses his chance to make the ASG roster. As I said, talent presented at said point of the season, nothing else.

Officer55… you are an idiot. They didn’t “give” Dirk Nowitzki a ring. He won it. And why would Lowry be an all-star in Toronto if he wasn’t in Houston? Are you serious? Are you saying the same thing right now about Paul Millsap — wasn’t an all-star in Utah so he shouldn’t be in Atlanta? Ever heard of players getting better?

But you’re right your “boi” Lance Stephenson should have made it, for getting better and being the glue guy on the best team… instead of Joe Johnson’s game winners. Joe Johnson should not be going, the NBA just has to pump Brooklyn.

After that….

Lowry instead of Bosh. Bosh is just not that great and yet somehow every year there he is sneaking in. He made the team his first time before the Raptors were any good. He made it again when they were mediocre. He has made it the last four years because he plays on the Heat.

Lowry is an-allstar period. But his numbers are comparable to Jeff Teague’s and Teague didn’t make it so I get that. The thing is, KYRIE IRVING SHOULD NOT BE IN THE GAME nevermind starting… The Cavs had better go on a huge second half run to justify that starting spot.

Out west… Dragic should be named a replacement. And if another player can’t play, Unibrow.

Lillard made it over Conley and Dragic because he is a better player on a better team. His numbers have been down the last couple weeks but look for that to change now that this ASG stuff is a boost instead of a distraction. He’s also hit some monster shots this year, three game winners (including one to beat PHX) and had huge fourth quarters. Coaches remember those things.

you guys just got carried away too much, it’s an allstar game, of course they would pick derozan over lowry, derozan is more fun to watch in an allstar game, then as for joe johnson he is the best player so far in the roster, and 1 must get an allstar slot, cause brooklyn is in no. 7 seed in the east, you guys should chill this up and just be happy for the players that got the privilege to play the game in allstar mode… there are so many aspect that needs to be considered on picking an allstar player and you guys don’t know much about that, consider it as professional’s work and we’re only amateurs… peace ^_^

Not one of the favorites by the voting coaches. To them it isn’t how good you are it’s” I love this guy” not someone who really puts his heart into it. Favortism will always be there by the coaches, NBA and ESPN. Never change.

In his contract year Lowry is playing amazing ball. Maybe he finally found the home he has been looking for in TO. I agree Derozan over Lowry, he has been trough bad and worst times in TO , and every year he worked hard for the Raptors. Well deserved!

Lance now has his 4th Triple-double of the season. He’s a great rebounder for his position and is averaging great numbers on the best team in the league. I can’t stress how terrible choosing Joe Johnson over him is. It’s a joke.

Kyrie Irving and his Cavs of decent talent but-extremely-underperforming-team are being man handled by the almost as bad Knicks. Kyle Lowry, I’m sorry the fans chose him and if I could change it, you’d be in his spot.

Ridiculous – No Lowry? I mean I wasn’t a big fan of him until this season, but that’s all that matters right now – this season! Too bad for him. It would have been amazing if Toronto had two all-stars.

List is good, lillard, howard, lamarcus, paul and parker are all great picks. If you think deandre jordan should have been picked or Ibaka you got probs. Blake griffen should be a reserve and not a starter, dude can only dunk and has a awful looking shot, jordan and blake are perfect examples of players that will be nothing once age catches up cause they really have no skill. For the east I could really care less about the reserves since 90% of the east is sub .500. Dragic should not have been selected since he is not better then, curry, paul, parker or lillard…plus all those teams have better records. For the East dwayne wade should not have been selected as well as joe jhonson.

Major snub not adding Kyle Lowry. He is an AllStar caliber player in every sense. His leadership on the court and ability to win games makes him an AllStar. To the doubters, you clearly haven’t watched many Toronto games THIS season.

Congrats to all the All-Star selections. All are well deserving of the accolades. However, some were left out for various reasons. As an NBA superfan, I would have selected things differently based on two main factors: Winning Team x Personal Stats – which most coaches WERE suppose to select from. Not sure if these coaches did their homework or just didn’t care, or frankly wanted to select certain players for their own reasons.

Questionable Selections:
– Joe Johnson: teams performance sub .500. on an all-star roster. underperformed this year and on his way to worse season of his career.
– Wade, Bosh: just sounds nice to have all three again. Wade barely plays anymore. Bosh is good, but not all-star levels and difference maker. Miami can win with just James and bunch of role-players.

Snubs:
– Lowry: pulled the Raptors out of oblivion to be 3rd in East, and his stats and big time plays are off the charts. And if you watch any Raps games, he’s the little engine that never gives up. All effort.

– Dragic: PHX surprised everyone. Even without Bledsoe, this man is doing it. Stats are great, and team is winning.

=========================

Coaches need to revisit their selections, and let’s hope more deserving players on winning teams get nods in future. This is becoming a popularity contest for big market teams to dominate ASG.

wall over lowry, that makes sense… no wait, it doesnt…wall is barely better statwise (by 3ppg,1ast and 1to) and toronto is ahead of washington (i know its the east but whatever). sorry ima have to call out the toronto hate…. maybe im just hating cause ima lakers fan

The all star game is just a popularity contest. Blake Griffin shouldnt be a starter. He just made it because people like his dunks. They should make a spot for centers so Roy Hibbert and Dwight Howard get the ASG start that they deserve. The subs are messed up too. It should be Tim Duncan instead of Dirk Nowitzki. Derozan instead of Wall? Seriously? All Star Game is a bust.

True, they game today favors guards (in the regular season). Centers can’t play like they traditionally used to. The game is too soft (everybody flopping), centers can be guarded anyway teams want (flagrant on bigs don’t count, Dwight syndrome), shooters can’t be touched while shooting (but ok for bigs, per NBA rule). Btw I’ll love to see them jacking up shots like shooters and guards battling in the for the rebound and playing defense.

I think Cousins and Anthony Davis got snubbed in the West. And don’t know why Joe Johnson and Chris Paul (injury) were even picked. Otherwise, I’m okay with the choices. I think it will be a great game! Go West!!!!

It’s HORRIBLE. ALL-STARS WILL always be POPULARITY, NOT THE BEST PLAYING PLAYERS of the season.
It’s RIDICULOUS they did not selected DRAGIC. He’s playing a suberb season. (His mistake was not being an AMERICAN)
Bosh and Wade are just lucky being with LBJ, having the ASG nods. Stephenson is playing better than Wade, make no mistake about it! Drummond is almost an automatic double-double per game and in top 4 in NBA Rebounds and top 3 in DUNKS this season… which should be exciting in the all-star game. Bosh is slowing, just shooting 3’s or the perimeter and becoming boring.
We need young guys, faster and more fun to watch… especially in the open court.

I don’t like the big three formula, but u can’t say Bosh and Wade are All-Star players because of Lebron… they got worse stats because of playing with Lebron, not the other way around. But it would be more fair if Stephenson would be in the All-Star game instead of Wade. Bosh is a top 3 power forward in this league, so can’t argue with his selection…. hopefully he’ll return to the Raptors when he’s a free agent and shows what he can do without Lebron.

They snub my Boi Lance Stephenson. But hopefully it’s just a motivation tactic to make Lance destroy the NBA. I don’t like Dirk Nowitzki honestly, you already gave him a ring, that’s enough! Joe Johnson is the only forward left to be a deserving allstar. Kyle Lowry is not an allstar caliber type of player. . . Trust me. He was not in Rockets why would he be in the Raptors?

Monta, Drummond , Lowry should have made it… Lin should have got in from votes, not stats. Not saying its what i want but what’s obvious. So who is getting paid under the table? its not a presidential election, #ComeOnMan lol

Right, because NBA players are not allowed to improve their game at any point in their careers. Do you even watch Raptor games? Kyle Lowry is playing out of his mind right now, and when it comes to the combination of offence and defense, is easily the best point guard in the East right now. He is also beating “All-Star” Joe Johnson in EVERY statistical category.

Every year, everyone forgets that the All-Star selection process is based on nothing more than a player’s current statistics and popularity. If it was about the absolute best talent in the NBA (forget team records or individual popularity), we would see a slightly different lineup. For instance, the Celtics are unsurprisingly doing terrible this year, but I would pick Rajon Rondo over DeMar Derozan or Joe Johnson any day. Sure he’s coming off an ACL injury and has only played a few games, so his stats are super low compared to the other guards on the roster. But I would still take him over any PG in the league with the exception of Chris Paul.

Sheer popularity is why players like Kobe and Dwayne Wade keep getting the predictable All-Star votes, but both are injured to varying extents and Kobe won’t even play until the season is almost over (if at all). Hell I would replace Wade with Kyle Lowry in a heartbeat, and even then I’m not convinced Lowry is All-Star caliber.

Not that I’m super surprised, but I thought either Al Jefferson or Kemba Walker deserved to make the team. Either Big Al over Bosh or Kemba over Joe Johnson. If Wall could make it with the Wizards record, I don’t see why either couldn’t with the Bobcats record right behind the Washington’s.

Even though i won’t be the best judge i would move these three in the west:
-Dwight Howard for A.Davis
-Blake Griffin for N.Pekovic
-James Harden for Goran Dragic

While east is to much to correct but i would’ve found a spot sacrificing either Derozan or Johnson for Kyle Lowry.
-The east is to tragic to look at to long conference wise and All-star wise… better just not to think of them…

The fact that a guy like Cousins who is averaging 23 pts 12 rebounds and clearly has been the best center in the league this year can’t get in is a absolute joke.. The NBA is one of the most biased leagues I have ever seen and it turns off smaller market fans with is favoritism toward bigger market players and teams..it’s a joke and it blatantly obvious..

Not to mention that he is doubled and sometimes tripled every time he touches the ball, and he is still putting up those numbers. No one in the league has been able to stop him. It is not Cousins fault that he is not surrounded with more talent. If coaches are truly voting based on if the team has a winning record then the East wouldn’t have anyone for the coaches to vote in. Certainly not Joakim Noah or John Wall. The league needs to fix this. The top Center in the league should be named All-Star. Dwight Howard is a joke and doesn’t deserve to be named top Center. He is dominated by other bigs on a nightly basis.

On the teams that were voted you really cant knock the reserves especially the west. If Paul doesn’t play Dragic to play. You could have a argument for Davis but the record lets him down. The east is ok. But you could have argument why Wall is in and not Stephenson or Lowry. While I know we have three forwards in the starting line up that can all play the same position but is having Bosh, Noah, Hibbert and Millsap over doing it on big men when Anthony will want to play the 4 and the two guard is thin on. Unless they are going to play George more at the two.

3 from the Heat!!!! Why does anyone even vote? You know they put in who they want, their favorites and no matter how hard you play, how good your stats are it doesn’t matter to them. Not fair but will never change.

West was difficult. Dirk probably deserved it less then some, but it’s not anything you can truly argue against.

The East is a different story. Lance Stephenson not making the team is eye opening as far as this whole process. Not only is his team number one in the league, but he’s the second best player on his team based on the numbers. But what is truly baffling (and frankly disturbing) is that he has stats much better almost across the board then Joe Johnson on a team over 6 places in the standings above his, and 10+ places as far as total wins. I can’t chalk this up to anything but bias as Charles said, and probably marketing as I believe the mindset may have been “we need another player from New York.” Irving and Anthony are bad enough being voted in by the fans (Kyle Lowry should be in one of those spots, but as a reserve), but this is far from settling.

Congratulations to DeMar DeRozen !
Effort, hard work, and team-first attitude gets rewarded by the coaches (the fan popularity contest aside).
I feel badly for Kyle, but the Raptors just don’t get any love….

TD, Cousins, DJ, Conley, Blair, Teague, Lee, Ibaka, Jefferson, Z-Bo, Iggy and Jackson. I mean, every year we’re gonna see guys get snubbed or simply not get a look because the competition for spots is fierce. We could make an argument (hypothetical, mind you) that a third squad could be made up – and if you picked right, that team could seriously beat either of the East or West on a ‘good day’. Put it like this, a random squad East & West made up of these guys: Cousins, Jefferson, Iggy/Z-Bo, Dragic, Conley in the West could give the West Team a run for their money. Out East a team with, just for example: Drummond, Garnett, Gay, Lowry, Stephenson, you’ve got another very talented squad that could trouble the East starters. What it all boils down to is this: there’s only 24 spots available over two squads .. and some great players are *always* gonna miss out.

I thought Dragic was a shoe in – but as the TNT guys pointed out, the West was ‘guard heavy’ … so i guess, who do leave out if Dragic gets the spot? Harden? Lillard? Parker? I don’t think it’s all over for him though: Kobe’s done, so i can see Dragic still making it into the West squad.

I would have picked Ellis over Parker. Monta has brought life back to the Mavs with his quickness and scoring prowess. Unfortunately though, the latter’s popularity and the Spurs’ better record won him the spot.

And there’s no way DeAndre Jordan should make the list ever. He just can’t use his size to his advantage. Sure, he will dunk and block a few, but of course, more is expected from a guy stronger than anyone not named Dwight Howard.

I hope you realize tha Jordan leads the league in rebounding while also ranking high in blocks per game, a feat only Howard has been able to achieve in any of the last 5 seasons plus he’s anchoring one of the best defenses since December. Sure, he might not score in bunches, but he’s not required to because Clippers have enough offensive punch as it is….

Enough with this linsanity was a joke. Hes an average player at the very best. Youre probably asian huh. Asians seem to be the only ones to feed.off that.bs. What? A couple of decent games makes him an all.star? Please. I guess kris humphries should be an all star too huh? Lay.off the cocck

3 Stars and a sun.
i know you are a from the Philippines. stop riding his D^&k. he’s not even a your countryman.
Dragic was ROBBED
just look at the numbers
Dragic > Lin
Pts Pts
19.9 13.4
Reb Reb
3.4 2.4
Ast Ast
6.1 4.4

Dirk is arguably the best shooter in the league right now… he’s the only player who’s above league average from each and every spot in the floor: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/court … -so-far-2/

he’s also
#8 in PER
#8 in APM
#9 in WS/48

if being a clear cut top 10 player in the league isn’t enough for you. Dirk just pulled off a 38/17 game yesterday, being only the 2nd player this season doing so (Love was the other one) and also being the first guy in modern league history pulling down those numbers at 35+

Kyle Lowry is the biggest snub this year. Not only he’s better than his teammate DeRozan, but he’s arguably the best PG in the East. He’s the reason why Raptors are 3rd. What a joke he got no respect from the TNT crew.

So Joe Johnson has been good for a month in a dissapointing team and gets the mod, but Drummond, who has been consistent all season long, in a garbage team as well, doesnt get it? ASG is getting worse every year.

Why not? 3rd place in the East, both putting up numbers (as proven by the previous post). He’s currently the best player on a team that beat Joe’s Nets twice in January and beaten the likes of the Indiana Pacers. No one had a problem putting both Harden and Howard into the all-star game, even in an ultra-competetive West. I know you can’t compare the two pairs to each other but you gotta give respect to the guys playing like all stars.

Kyle Lowry is killing Joe Johnson in stats, including Player Impact. His team is 24-21….3 games ahead of the Nets. If Raptors started the season with their current team and played at their current pace of .667, they would be 30-15….2 games back of Miami for the second seed.

How in the WORLD does Joe Johnson get in over Kyle Lowry???? If you are a stats guy, Kyle Lowry gets in. If you are a wins guy, Kyle Lowry gets in. What could the coaches have possibly been thinking??? It’s a disgrace.

It happens it every year in every sport now, I hate to say it but these guys have ruined all star ballots for all of us, that’s why I think it would be better if the coaches all decided as a group like in college sports.

LOWRY DRAGIC biggest snubs nuff said they are both the biggest contributors on their teams while also being in charge of guarding the opposing teams pg…….i get it joe johnson was picked as all reserves are picked by coaches…….picked because watching people like him 1 on one with other players will be exciting more than what lowery and dragic might have to bring to the allstar game table…but who is he going to 1 on one the west team barely has any sf or sg(KD, harden, curry and hes a hybrid guard……sigh this is going to be an “interesting” allstar game